The Lego Movie, opening this Friday, continues a proud tradition of movies based on or around inanimate plastic objects. This week the Grantland staff gathers some of the more memorable entries from a subgenre that sells itself. Amos Barshad: It’s now been more than a decade since some anonymous genius (long since no longer anonymous) dubbed over the old GI: Joe PSAs with jittery ramblings, threw ’em online, and watched the whole nonsensical thing go viral (via eBaum’s World). A lot has changed on the Internet since then: Now, major corporations have major budgets dedicated to crafting the kind of fragmented bits of Internet muddlings we once found so effervescent and true. But if there’s one thing that’s stayed the same, it’s body massage, body massage, who wants a body massage? Sean Fennessey: Tommy Lee Jones is great. Director Joe Dante is great. Francis Ford Coppola’s script for Patton is great. CGI animation is great. No money is worth this. Mark Lisanti: When it was reported that GoBots: The Movie’s budget had swelled to an unprecedented $400 million back in 2007, the industry collectively sneered.
The hubris was unspeakable. A bomb was coming. But the ’Bots team had the last laugh. And a worldwide gross of $950 million. The franchise has never been stronger; GoBots 2: The Motorcycle One Returns is slated for a release in the summer of 2016, and Mark Wahlberg and The Rock have already signed on, sensing yet another opportunity to hitch their respective wagons to a proven winner. We could be looking at a $2 billion take. Never doubt the GoBots. Emily Yoshida: The cottage industry of feature-length motion pictures based on the American Girl doll empire is a bit after my time. When I was saving up my allowance for a Molly in the early ’90s, Pleasant Company hadn’t yet been purchased by Mattel, there was no Girl of the Year, and American Girl Place was a single mythical outpost in Chicago that seemed almost too decadent to be real. Now there is a whole crop of surprisingly not-crappy movies, starring actors you might actually recognize, to add to your already overprogrammed child’s media diet, including one well-received theatrical one.
(I caught Kit Kittredge: An American Girl on cable a couple of years ago, and it was a very pleasant viewing experience!) Anyway, Colonial-era Felicity was one of the weaker links in the lineup I grew up with, but here is a baby Shailene Woodley and Marcia Gay Harden making you cry and reminding spoiled little girls all across our brave nation that there was a time when strange, horrific diseases that not even a jar of leeches could cure could take away your loved ones at a moment’s notice, and you had to wear a bonnet while it happened. Look how far we’ve come! Zach Dionne: It’s easy to grow up and turn into a snob and classify all the Transformers movies as junk without doing any due diligence. Michael Baysplosionking, Shia TheBeef, et al. But I’ve got empirical evidence that the first movie was a travesty, an experience that’ll allow me to comfortably avoid/look down upon the sequels until one of us shuffles off this mortal coil. (I suspect I’ll go before the franchise does.)
So: My college girlfriend and I celebrated our two-year anniversary by going to an elegant old cinema in Skowhegan, Maine. Two hearts, one action movie based on toys neither of us ever played with. I didn’t realize this relic of a theater had the capacity to go so loud — Bay had filmed the most egregiously bombastic thing I’d ever sat in front of, a war on the audience, fought with decibels. AND I STILL FELL ASLEEP, SO SOUNDLY. It was that boring and impossible to connect with. Now I’m left hoping against hope that some flying, jumping Legos will give me a toy-based moviegoing anecdote I’ll carry around for years, a tale of glee rather than one of bitching and moaning. Please be the best. Alex Pappademas: No gritty reboot of anything will ever shock and excite me as much as the part of Transformers: The Movie where Spike says “Oh, shit!” did when I was 9. Rembert Browne: Everything I know and understand about preparing for death I’ve learned in this one scene.
And all my plans for escaping an untimely death revolve around being rescued by Theee Claaaawwwww. netw3rk: 2001’s A.I., is, to my mind, the darkest and most interesting exploration of the timeless “What if our toys came to life?” theme. Born from the vision of Stanley Kubrick and directed by Steven Spielberg, the movie gets an unfair rap for having an ending that some audiences thought of as too bright and sunny, too Spielberg-ian, I guess. I found the ending terribly sad. The central question is this: What is life? If, through science, we create a machine that believes it is alive, is it, then, alive? How valuable is its life in relation to ours? What responsibility do we have toward the AI as its creator? In this scene, Monica Swinton introduces David — an artificial boy brought home by the Swinton family, whose own son, Martin, is in cryogenic stasis due to an illness — to Teddy, a favorite toy of her son’s. Katie Baker: I’ve seen the movie Toys approximately 25 times and I still have no idea what happens in it.
The trailer does a wonderful job summing it all up. It’s worth it just to hear the way the voice-over guy says “LL Cool J.”Ask any parent how they would like to spend their days, and they’ll likely give you one of three answers: “Spend more time with my kids,” “Work my dream job,” or “Solidify my family’s financial future.”For one father, all three of these dreams are a reality.Jared (who asked his last name be withheld to protect his family’s privacy) is a self-employed filmmaker who has combined his passion for films with his 9-year-old son Evan’s love of toys to create the wildly popular YouTube channel EvanTubeHD. The father-son duo post up to three videos a week; the videos feature Evan reviewing toys.It may seem simple enough, but their channel has taken YouTube–and children’s imaginations–by storm. Evan and Jared posted their first video back in 2011 and, since then, their channel has amassed a staggering 1.3 million subscribers and racked up 1.2 billion page views (yes, billion).
What’s even more impressive about EvanTubeHD is that the channel is now bringing in over seven figures annually for their family.“When we first started the channel, we had no intention of making a cent from our videos,” says Jared. “We didn’t even know it was possible. Our payment came in the form of father-son bonding time and the idea that others were enjoying something we created.”But one day, after Evan’s videos started attracting thousands of views, Jared got curious about that little “monetize” button YouTube content creators can click. So he clicked it on one of Evan’s videos.“Lo and behold, money started showing up in our AdSense account,” says Jared. “Granted, it wasn’t much–maybe a few dollars a day. But I thought if I took this small stream of income and put it into a mutual fund, by the time the kids were ready to go to college, there would be a nice chunk there to assist with rising costs of education.”It’s now safe to say his children’s college costs are covered.
Though he won’t specify an exact figure, Jared says that EvanTubeHD and its sister channel EvanTubeRAW, which features his wife, Alisa, and their 6-year-old daughter, Jillian, brings in a ballpark figure of around $1.3 million annually. Jared says most of that revenue comes in from the embedded ads controlled by Google, but he and his family now also frequently get requests for outside projects, due to Evan’s popularity.“Last year Evan shot a Spy Gear commercial in Toronto,” he says. “This year the kids have some cool opportunities, including voicing their own animated show.”But better than the money, and almost as good as getting to spend his days with his family, Jared says one of the main benefits of producing EvanTubeHD is being able to teach Evan–and his rising-star little sister–the importance of being a good role model.“I think it’s hard for a 9-year-old to fully grasp the concept of fame. But as more and more people are recognizing him on the street, I think he’s starting to catch on,” says Jared.
“At first, he was a little shy and didn’t know what to think. But I think he enjoys seeing the smiles on kids’ faces when they meet him. My wife and I like to use these opportunities to reinforce the idea of being a role model and setting a good example.”Part of teaching his children what being a good role model means is showing them the importance of giving to others who have less than them. Jared says that most of the toys Evan and Jillian review are donated to charity. They’ve also used the power of EvanTubeHD to raise the awareness of several charities they donate to.“Most recently, we had the opportunity to work with the Make-a-Wish Foundation, and were able to fulfill the wish of a young boy whose dream was to meet Evan and make a video with him at Legoland,” says Jared. “It was a really incredible experience. YouTube has definitely opened many doors, and the kids have gotten to do some pretty amazing things.”As a professional filmmaker and now uber-successful YouTube content producer, Jared believes more than anyone in the power of online video.
If you’re looking to create your own seven-figure YouTube channel, Jared has some tips for you: Jared and Evan on set in their basement. 1. Be persistent“Some channels take off faster than others for different reasons. The key is to hang in there,” says Jared, who notes that while EvanTubeHD has over a billion views now, it started off with only a few hundred a week when he and Evan began posting their first clips. The key to persistence is to keep creating content.“We try to upload at least one video for each of our three channels each week. The videos for our main channel are usually a bit more involved and take the most thought and preparation,” says Jared.Some videos he and Evan post are “pretty straightforward,” while others require him to write scripts, draw storyboards, acquire props and costumes, scout locations, and add special effects. Is that a lot of work? But it can be worth it. “If you’re making quality content, an audience will come,” says Jared.
“It may just take some time.”2. Know your audience and connect with itOne of the keys to growing your YouTube channel is to attract repeat viewers, Jared says. To do that, you need that extra something that is going to make them want to hit that Subscribe button. That “extra something” is knowing your viewers well enough to create a connection.“I think one of the biggest attributing factors is Evan’s ability to connect with viewers,” he says. “They see him as their friend and somebody they can relate to.”Jared and his wife often get messages from parents saying how their sons and daughters run around talking about “their friend Evan.”“It’s that connection which is going to get them to hit the Subscribe button and become a repeat viewer,” says Jared. 3. Embrace your inner youthIn the videos, it may look like Evan is having all the fun, but in reality, Jared loves the toys as much as his son. “Growing up, I was a huge Lego, comic book, and video game fanatic,” he says.
“So it’s pretty awesome that that has become my job’s main focus.”Jared says that his experience making videos with his son has taught him the importance of embracing his inner youth. “When creating these videos with him, I find myself observing through the eyes of a child. Will they think this is cool? Will they find this funny? It’s really given me a whole new perspective on things, which helps a great deal when trying to understand kids today.”But don’t think your video’s focus has to be on toys or other interests primarily aimed at children to embrace your inner youth.“Enthusiasm [for any subject] goes a long way,” says Jared. “Chances are somebody has similar interests.”4. Provide value to your viewerAnyone can make videos about their hobbies or passions, but in order for those videos to capture a large audience, your viewers need to get something of value out of them. Jared says you should ask yourself, “What are your viewers taking away from the viewing experience?
Are they likely to share it with others?”In Jared’s case, he and his wife know many parents worry about finding quality content for their kids online, so he makes sure EvanTubeHD not only entertains kids, but provides value to their parents.“When my wife and I realized how many young eyeballs were watching our videos, we thought it was our responsibility to create content that parents felt comfortable allowing their children to watch,” Jared says. And he knows they’ve been successful because he and his wife now frequently “get reports of kids who have taken control of their parents’ iPads.”5. Be uniqueJared’s last tip is, perhaps, the hardest to follow. “Don’t be afraid to change things up to stand out from the crowd,” he says. EvanTubeHD wasn’t the first toy review channel on YouTube and it won’t be the last. The reason it’s the most successful, Jared argues, is that he and his son bring a unique twist to the format.“I know when I watch YouTube, it’s either to be educated about something or to be entertained.
I thought it would be cool if we could incorporate both into our toy videos,” he says. “Before each video, we would outline the main features of the product. Then I would let Evan fill in the blanks with his own commentary and antics. I might add some special effects or we may do a little comedy sketch. The formula seemed to work.”And for Jared, a huge part of EvanTubeHD’s uniqueness comes from something no one else can ever have: his family. “Another key element for us has been that we work as a tight family unit. Everyone contributes and has their special roles. And the channel really wouldn’t be where it is today if it was missing any one of these elements. Family is the driving factor behind everything we do on YouTube.”It’s that last aspect, he says, that makes EvanTubeHD the dream job of dream jobs.“Like most people, I’ve often thought of dream jobs I’d love to have. But never in my wildest dreams did I think one of them would be making a living creating videos while doing fun things with my family.